btcd

btcd is an alternative full node bitcoin implementation written in Go (golang).

This project is currently under active development and is in an Alpha state.

It currently properly downloads, validates, and serves the block chain using the exact rules (including bugs) for block acceptance as the reference implementation (bitcoind). We have taken great care to avoid btcd causing a fork to the block chain. It passes all of the 'official' block acceptance tests (https://github.com/TheBlueMatt/test-scripts).

It also properly relays newly mined blocks, maintains a transaction pool, and relays individual transactions that have not yet made it into a block. It ensures all individual transactions admitted to the pool follow the rules required into the block chain and also includes the vast majority of the more strict checks which filter transactions based on miner requirements ("standard" transactions).

One key difference between btcd and bitcoind is that btcd does NOT include wallet functionality and this was a very intentional design decision. See the blog entry here for more details. This means you can't actually make or receive payments directly with btcd. That functionality will be provided by the forthcoming btcwallet and btcgui.

Installation

Windows - MSI Available

https://github.com/conformal/btcd/releases

Linux/BSD/POSIX - Build from Source

• Install Go according to the installation instructions here: http://golang.org/doc/install btcd requires features only available in go1.2 or later. At present, that means you must install go1.2rc5 or later.

• Run the following command to obtain btcd, all dependencies, and install it: $ go get github.com/conformal/btcd

• btcd will now be installed in either $GOROOT/bin or $GOPATH/bin depending on your configuration. If you did not already add to your system path during the installation, we recommend you do so now.

Updating

Windows

Install a newer MSI

Linux/BSD/POSIX - Build from Source

• Run the following command to update btcd, all dependencies, and install it: $ go get -u -v github.com/conformal/btcd/...

Getting Started

btcd has several configuration options avilable to tweak how it runs, but all of the basic operations described in the intro section work with zero configuration.

Windows (Installed from MSI)

Launch btcd from your Start menu.

Linux/BSD/POSIX/Source

$ ./btcd

Mailing lists

• btcd: discussion of btcd and its packages.
• btcd-commits: readonly mail-out of source code changes.

To subscribe to a given list, send email to list+subscribe@opensource.conformal.com

TODO

The following is a brief overview of the next things we have planned to work on for btcd. Note this does not include the separate btcwallet and btcgui which are currently under heavy development:

• Documentation
• Code cleanup
• Add remaining missing RPC calls
• Add option to allow btcd run as a daemon/service
• Complete several TODO items in the code
• Offer cross-compiled binaries for popular OSes (Fedora, Ubuntu, FreeBSD, OpenBSD)

GPG Verification Key

All official release tags are signed by Conformal so users can ensure the code has not been tampered with and is coming from Conformal. To verify the signature perform the following:

• Download the public key from the Conformal website at https://opensource.conformal.com/GIT-GPG-KEY-conformal.txt

• Import the public key into your GPG keyring:

  gpg --import GIT-GPG-KEY-conformal.txt
  

• Verify the release tag with the following command where TAG_NAME is a placeholder for the specific tag:

  git tag -v TAG_NAME
  

License

btcd is licensed under the liberal ISC License.